Talkback 02

Gail: I love that you pick your own bananas for breakfast-

No, I didn’t mean to give that impression. I don’t pick my own bananas–but they are that fresh! Maybe I’ll let David write a guest blog here so he can tell his great story about the amazing banana plant.

Jim: Tell us more about that crazy traffic–what side of the street do you drive on–are there rotaries? The sunsets sound amazing.What’s the mosquito situation during the day?

We drive UK-style, on the left side of the road. All the vehicles here have the steering wheel on the right side. I thought I would have a hard time adjusting to this as I did in England and Australia, but I’m not. Either I’ve visited enough British Commonwealth countries, or it’s just so freakin’ chaotic that I look around 360 degrees anyway. I remember going through a few rotaries on the way to Matara from Colombo, but that’s all. By the way, the last time I saw a traffic light was September 21 in Colombo. As for the mozzies, they aren’t that terrible. I have several bites here and there but it’s very tolerable. You do have to watch out for mosquito bites on your feet because they can get mildly infected (which I think has happened to me. Bring on the antibiotic!).

Adamzdad: What kind of clothing do you wear? Food? Details, please. Right hand??? No utensils…hmmm, how’s the hygiene?

I’m wearing the same clothes that I brought with me. I have gained a new shirt which I purchased for 500 rupees in Galle. David gave me another shirt but one button (out of just five) fell off a week later, so it’s been awaiting a new button for a few weeks now! I haven’t gotten around to getting some trousers made. Hygiene here is basically washing hands and plates with water. The students do use soap for showers, but they don’t seem to use it for washing their hands. So when you’ve finished off the plate, you run it under a faucet, wipe off the scraps and put it back on the shelf. Doesn’t really faze me.

Amanda: who is in charge of the cook, etc? is that part of the school’s way of paying david and nerissa, or is that their personal cook or? does that feel weird at all?

At Pointe Sud, Nerissa and David have a cook, Sebastien, on the staff, and he makes meals daily. He’s also surprisingly easy to talk to and never gets sick of my questions like, “what’s that? What’s this?” At the school, we also have our own cook, this delightful old fat lady who is always making sure one of the boys gets me a plate of food during lunchtime. If there’s no sponsors that day, she cooks for everybody (and does a hell of a job, too). She also makes a mean cup of red tea.

Larry Musa: We sent two Gallaudet students to a rural deaf school in a developing country this summer to intern…Tell the officials if they need an intern next summer, to please contact us.

I absolutely will. Where did your students intern?

Amanda (and others): did you get permission from parents or someone to post photos/names, etc? i remember some hullabaloo around this type of thing somewhere else.

Looks like you started off a mild hullabaloo on my blog! No, I did not get permission, but after your comment, I asked David if it was needed. He said no, so I’m going to go along with that. I realize that I’m probably using a double standard here; would I publicize the names and academic performance of students at an American deaf school? Absolutely not, but conditions are different there than here. I think we all can agree with what Sophie said. The kids know that their photographs and names are being put up on the “internet” for my friends worldwide to read, and they are thrilled about that!

Adamzmom: Do the dorm kids wash and iron their clothes themselves? Are you fluent in Sinhala [sign language] now?

Yep, they do, usually on a daily basis. The frequent rains can cause wardrobe catastrophes when the hung clothes get caught in a downpour, though! Also, the usual forgotten-pen-in-pocket-of-trousers problem causes several children’s uniforms to exhibit a purple hue. I think I’m basically fluent in it now; I often find myself translating for the children! There’s a lot of nuances, though, that I haven’t learned yet, and often when the kids talk to each other, I can’t understand.

Sasha: i nearly want to weep when i see your photos and listen to your stories. it has re-inspired me to want to move back to india or sri lanka.

And I think India and Sri Lanka both would love to have you back! There’s so much to do here. I may be deaf like the kids, but I’m still white, unlike the kids. You, on the other hand, would be a tremendous role model for them even if they got to meet you for just one day.

Leah: my pager doesn’t seem to be sending you messages anymore??

I don’t get it, either. Did you get my messages, though? Ask Liz or Amanda for help; they use sidekicks too to text me.

AdamzSis: boys seem to get more attention in school than girls. Is that so?

What’s with this Adamz… moniker that you’re all using!? Anyway, from me in particular, I’m afraid so. The girls are still so shy and I obviously can’t enter the girls’ dorm, so more of my time is spent with boys. There are slightly more boys than girls in years 6-11, too, and three classes are all-boys (including Grade 8 which I posted). I’m really trying hard to give them equal attention, I really am!